Assessment Of Selected Resorts In Cavite Province Biology Essay

Assessment Of Selected Resorts In Cavite Province Biology Essay Resorts in the province of Cavite are recognized for its reputable recreational waters. These resorts are intended to provide prospective customers with an atmosphere of amusement, entertainment and relaxation. The most common types are beach resorts, swimming pool, and even lakes and rivers which are designed to accommodate individuals, group of peers and family members (Bago and Linantud 2004). Also recreational waters offer activities that are beneficial and substantial to overall health. Recreational waters can be contaminated and polluted by bacteria, viruses and protozoan parasites (Bitton 1999), although the recreational water is normally treated physically and chemically using filtration and chlorination to prevent growth and infection of some bacteria (Montano and Abear 2000). However there are was an increasing number of cases of acute gastroenteritis during this summer and one group of microbes leading to their disease are enteric bacteria. Bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Pseudomonass aeruginosa that are resistant and tolerant to chlorine and were known to cause human misery (Mann 2005). Enteric Bacteria are said to be notorious and dangerous because they cause recreational water illness like acute gastroenteritis, cholera, pneumonia, typoid fever, diarrhea, urinary infection, pneumonia, dermatitis, salmonellosis and otitis external these disease leads to outbreaks (Yoder 2008). Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are among those bacteria that can thrive in recreational waters and transmitted from swallowing and inhaling contaminated water before the microorganisms can be destroyed by pool water disinfectant (Barwicks et al. 1999). Also their resiliency to grow in some disinfectants like chlorine because they are capsulated bacteria and they possess a versatile metabolic activity, which makes gives them the resistance to a variety of physical conditions (Cappuccino 2005). The presence of these organisms in dicates contamination by pathogenic microorganism. Most waterborne diseases are related to pollution of water resources sources and thus pose an unacceptable health risk for swimmers (Schets et al. 2010). Therefore the need to examine water samples in a microbiological water aspect is essential to ensure safety to swimmers. This study is conducted to support if the selected resorts in Cavite whether chlorinated and non-chlorinate is contaminated with pathogenic microorganism that can lead to potential waterborne diseases. 1.2 Conceptual Framework The water districts ensure the potability of drinking water by increasing the concentration of Chlorine (Yoder 2008). This potable drinking water were also used in resorts. Monthly sampling of water samples in pools render negative in enteric bacteria. However there is an increasing cases of gastroenteritis for the past year. The paradigm of the present study is as follows : Microbial Status in Chlorinated and non- chlorinated waters from selected resorts Water samples from resorts (pools, streams, rivers and beaches) ed The objective of this study is to gather different water samples obtained from selected resorts and determine the microbial status regardless of its chlorine concentration levels. 1.3 Statement of the Problem This study will aim to determine the microbial status in selected resorts in Cavite. To determine specifically the following objectives: 1. What is the microbial status jpresent in chlorinated and non -chlorinated water in selected resorts in Cavite? 2. Is there a significant difference in the total count of enteric bacteria and total bacteria among chlorinated and non-chlorinated waters in selected resorts in Cavite? 3. Is there a correlation between chlorine concentration in the resorts and water samples in lakes, rivers and beaches? 1.4 Scope and Delimitation The study will determine microbial status in selected resorts in Cavite, Province. Water samples will be taken from these selected resorts and chlorine content concentration will be determined using chlorine test kits. It is not the aim of the study to apply antibacterial agent in enteric bacteria recovered from water analysis. 1.5 Significance of the Study This study is designed to find out the microbial status on the selected resorts in Cavite, Philippines. This research hopes to benefit the following concerned population: Resort clientele to be more concerned to the areas that they went to and be prepared since traditional vaccines are not reliable in killing these bacteria because they are risky and are only effective after several years. Resort Administrators and Maintenance personnel for the enhancement of facilities of the swimming pool to promote the preventive measures against proliferation of microorganism which are recognized to be health risk problems and compliance to the water quality standards. Academe who may use this as preliminary information for their future research endeavors and information in survival of bacteria in different environmental conditions. 1.6 Definition of Terms Microbial status this refers to the bacteria present in chlorinated and non-chlorinated waters from selected resorts. Prevalence the number of samples that rendered positive in culture method over the total number of samples. Enteric Bacteria these are large group of gram-negative bacteria that are known to produce disease in the alimentary tract. Enteric bacteria that survived in chlorinated waters of resorts. Resorts it is considered to be swimming pools, streams, river, lakes and beaches with chlorine. Microbial Density- The population or the measurement of the growth of the bacteria. Microbial Plating- This refers technique used to isolate a pure  strain  from a single species of microorganism plating method that will be performed in laboratory. Total Bacteria bacteria other than enteric bacteria. API Kit- This refers to the biochemical test that will determine the isolated bacteria from water samples. Chlorination- this is a water purification method to make water safe to humans and a disinfecting agent that prevents the spread the spread of waterborne diseases Chlorine test kit- This refers to the chemical test that will determine the chlorine concentration level of water. Chromogenic Media This refers to the culturing media that will determine the present bacteria in water. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW LITERATURES 2.1 Conceptual Literatures Recreational water Recreational waters can be classified as fresh water swimming pools, whirlpools and naturally occurring fresh marine surface waters. Infectious disease which can be transmitted by recreational water includes skin, eye and ear infections and gastroenteritis. Consequently the level of microorganism in recreational water are important for indexing their health hazard associated with swimming and since the recreation classification includes bathing, swimming etc. any organism transmitted to humans can be regulated. The best indicators in the assessment of the safety of swimming pool water is to become aware of the types of hazard (microbiological, chemical and physical) that can impact a bathing area. Some researchers emphasize that the microbiological quality of swimming pools are best measure by identifying the bacteria present in that recreational water such as fecal coliform and enterococci, while others consider that the disease and symptoms it brought to the bathers rather than fec al contamination (Martin et al. 1995). (Montano and Abear 2000) cited that the bacteria suggested as indicators of recreational water quality include a wide variety of pathogenic bacteria and non-pathogenic microorganism such as coliform groups, species of Pseudomonas, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus and in rare case Legionella. The presence of single coliform organism is not a ground for condemning water as a unit for human consumption. It is the relative abundance of these organisms, which is important. According to Papadopoulou et al. (2007) cited that non-fecal human shedding (e.g. from vomit, mucus, saliva or skin) in the swimming pool is also a potential source of pathogenic organism. Bathers who are already infected can directly contaminate pool waters with pathogen which may affect other bathers, who come in contact with the contaminated water. Opportunistic pathogens (mainly bacteria) can also be shed from user and transmitted via contaminated water. Also certain free living aquatic bacteria and amoebae can possibly grow not just in pool waters but also with pool components or facilities or on other wet surfaces within the facility which may cause infections or disease. Therefore swimming pools are often associated with outbreaks or incidents of waterborne infection. Murdoch(1975) as cited by Amador and Amante (2001) mentioned that disease contracted from water kill some 25million people, most of them children each year, while many millions more are debilitated by waterborne diseases. Fecal contamination of water can introduce a variety pathogens into water waste, including bacteria, viruses, protozoans and parasitic worms. Waterborne related diseases have been recognized by Classes. Class 1, refers to the true waterborne disease contracted by drinking water. Class 2 are diseases associated with lack of personal hygiene which can be reduced by providing adequate amount of water for bathing and washing. To control such diseases, people should be provided with sufficient water of reasonable quality; achieving a high bacteriological quality is a secondary consideration. Enteric bacteria A large, heterogenous group in the family Enterobacteriaceae, include several closely related genera of short and spore forming, gram-negative rods, facultative anaerobic, that inhabit or produce disease in the alimentary tract of warm-blooded animal. This family are notorious as causes of urinary tract infection and are recovered from a variety of clinical specimens taken from diseased foci other than in the gastrointestinal tract. The enterobacteria are probably responsible for more human misery than any other group.(Smith 2008) Escherichia coli It is a gram negative rod shaped bacterium. It was originally known as bacterium coli. It is widely distributed in the intestine of humans and warm- blooded animals and is the predominant facultative anaerobe in the bowel part of the essential intestinal flora that maintains the physiology of the healthy host. The presence of E.coli is associated with bather-associated illness, but its absence cannot be equated with the lack of risk of illness (Guidelines for Canadian Recreational Water Quality available at http://www.ecy.wa.gov1992). Pathogenicity performs coliform bacilli usually do no penetrate intestinal wall to produce disease unless (1) the intestinal wall becomes diseased, (2) resistance of the host is lowered, or (3) virulence of the organism is greatly increased. Under one of these conditions of coliforms may pass to abdominal cavity or enter into the bloodstream. Once outside the intestinal canal and in the tissues of the body their virulence is remarkably enhanced. Among the diseases that they cause are pyelonephritis, cystitis, cholecystitis, abscesses, peritonitis, and meningitis. They may play a part in the formation of gallstones and are found in the cores of such stones. In peritonitis complicating intestinal perforation the coliform group is joined by such organisms as streptococci and staphylococci. From any focus of inflammation coliform organism may enter the bloodstream to produce a septicaemia. (Smith 2008) Shigella Dysentery caused by the Shiga bacillus (Shigella dysenteriae) is much more severe than that from the other organisms, since this bacillus produces a powerful exotoxin- like substance in addition to an endotoxin. The exotoxin- like substance seems to be liberated by bacterial disintegration, and as a neurotoxin, It acts on the nervous system to paralyze the host. The endotoxin irritates the intestinal canal. The dysentery bacilli are gram negative, nonsporebearing rods that grow on all ordinary media at temperatures from 10 ° to 42 ° C. but best at 37 ° C they are aerobic and facultative anaerobic. Unlike most other members most other member of the enteric group, they are non-motile. In terms of pathogenicity dysentery is a human disease and natural infections of the lower animals do not occur. The incubation period is 1 to 7 days. Epidemic dysentery is primarily an intestinal infection. Unlike typhoid bacilli, the organisms do no invade the bloodstream and are seldom if ever found in the internal organs or excreted in the urine. They are excreted in the feces. Compared to that for other enteric pathogen, the number of ingested shigellas for infection is small, only 10 to 100. (Smith 2008) Salmonella Among the large number of pathogenic microorganisms causing foodborne disease, Salmonella plays an important role. An analysis of Salmonella surveillance data from the World Health Organization (WHO) showed that the reported number of cases increased in 22 out of 49 countries examined. Although the reason for the global increase is not yet clear, investigations in individual countries suggest that it is related to consumption of eggs and poultry that harbour the organism. Besides control measures there is a need for rapid and sensitive methods for the detection of Salmonella (Beumer et. al, 1991). Salmonella is a ubiquitous enteric pathogen with a worldwide distribution that comprises large number of serovars characterized by different host specificity and distribution. This microorganism is one of the leading causes of intestinal illness through the world as well as the etiological agent of more severe systemic diseases such as typhoid and paratyphoid fever. Zoonotic salmonellae are commonly described as foodborne pathogens however; drinking water as well as natural waters is known to be an important source for the transmission of these enteric microorganisms. Salmonella, just like other enteric bacteria, is spread by the fecal-oral route of contamination. This microorganism can enter the aquatic environment directly with feces of infected humans or animals or indirectly, e.g., via sewage discharge or agricultural land run off. Overall Salmonella spp. and subspecies can be found in a large variety of vertebrates. Beside humans, animal sources of Salmonella include pets, farm animals and wild animals; calves, poultry, pigs, sheep as well as wild bird (pigeon) and reptiles can all be reservoirs of Salmonella. Plants, insects and algae were also found capable of harboring Salmonella and might be implicated in the transmission of this enteric pathogen. Taxonomically the genus Salmonella comprises two species namely S. bongori and S. enterica. The species S. enterica is further differentiated in to six subspecies (enterica, salamae, arizonae, diarizonae, indica and houtenae) among which the S. enterica subspecies enterica is mainly associated to human and other warm blooded vertebrates. Enteric fevers, typhoid and paratyphoid fever are severe, contagious systemic diseases caused by the infection of the serovars typhi and Paratyphi. Differently from other Salmonella serovars, typhi and Paratyphi are host adapted and can only infect humans; stools of infected persons are therefore the original source of contaminations for these pathogens. Water contaminated with feces of human cases and carriers is one of the main vehicles of typhoid fever infections. Literature data related to water-borne salmonellae in developing countries relate mostly the typhoid Salmonella serovars. In the less industrialized area of the world, in particular in the Indian subcontinent and South East Asia, typhoid and paratyphoid fevers occur both in epidemic and endemic form, and remain a major public health problem. The burden of typhoid fever worldwide is further compounded by the spread of multiple drug resistant S. typhi. Most of the recent publications on typhoid and paratyphoid fever water-borne infections in developing countries are from the Asian continent. Differently from typhoidal Salmonella strains, non-typhoidal salmonellae, the ubiquitous subtypes found in a number of animal species, are more frequently associated to foodborne than to water-borne transmission. These zoonotic Salmonella serovars tend to cause acute but usually self-limiting gastroenteritis (Levantesi et al, 2011). According to (Smith 2008)The pathogenicity of salmonella is called salmonellosis, the major site of which the lining of the intestinal tract. Because of their toxic properties every known strain of salmonella can cause anyone three types of salmonellosis: (1) acute gastroenteritis of the food type infection.(2) septicemia or acute sepsis with localized complications similar to pyogenic infections, and (3) enteric fever such as typhoid or paratyphoid fevers. Salmonella typhi A short motile nonencapsulated bacillus, S.typhi grows luxuriantly on all ordinary media. It grows best under aerobic conditions bit may grow anaerobically. The temperature range growth is from 4 ° to 40 °C., the optimum, 37 °C. typhoid bacilli can survive outside the body, living about 1 week in sewage contaminated water and not only living but multiplying in milk. They may be viable in fecal matter for 1 or 2 months. They are pathogenic because of their endotoxins. Their pathogenicity causes typhoid fever is an acute infectious disease with continuous fever, skin eruptions, bowel disturbances, and profound toxemia. Except in the first few days, leukopenia is always present in uncomplicated cases, probably because typhoid bacilli depress the bone marrow, where normal production of white blood cells occurs. Leukocytosis in the course of the disease signals complication. (Smith 2008) 2.2 Related Studies According to Brown (2009), gram-negative intestinal pathogens have a diverse population of bacteria of which two of the enteric intestinal pathogens that are of prime medical concern are the salmonella and shigella. The salmonella and shigella are both pathogenic bacteria that cause typhoid fever and human dysentery, respectively. Since the gram-negative intestinal pathogens has a such diverse population it has many genera of species like the Escherichia, Proteus, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, and Clostridium that exists on large numbers, hence it is necessary to use media that are differential and selective to favor the growth of the pathogens since all of the species can be divided into lactose fermenting and non-lactose fermenting bacteria. Hiriart et al. (2001) worked on the Helicobacter pylori and Other Enteric Bacteria in Freshwater Environments in Mexico City. They observed that all samples analyzed showed the presence of enteric bacteria with or without the presence of H. pylori, indicating that water from these sources is a potential health risk for gastrointestinal diseases. The major positivity of H. pylori coincides with the major positivity of indicator and other enteric bacteria, which are both associated with contaminated water. In another study Marion et al. (2010) worked on the association gastrointestinal illness and recreational water exposure at an inland U.S beach. Relationships between water quality indicators and reported adverse health outcomes among users of a beach at an inland U.S lake was observed to be a significant risk factor for GI illness. . Papadopoulo et al.(2008) worked on the microbial quality of indoor and outdoor swimming pools in greece. They found out that three indoor swimming pools and two outdoor swimming are present with bacteria, protozoa and fungi Such as Multi-resistant Pseudomonas alcaligenes, Leuconostoc, and staphyloccus aureus( isolated from teaching pool), Staphylococcus werneri. Chryseobacterium indologenes and Ochrobactrum anthropic (isolated from completion pools) Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. fluorescens, Aeromonas hydrophila, Enterbacter cloacae, Klebsiella pneumonia and S. aureus (isolated from the hydrotherapy pool and A. hydrophilla (isolated from the hotel pool) were related to water outbreaks. Schets et al. (2010) worked on the exposure assessments for swimmers in bathing waters and swimming pools. they found out that the swallowed volume or water appears different for men, women, and children, but also in fresh water, seawater and swimming pools also the frequency and duration of swimming do also differ for men, women, and children and in different water types, and provide a basis for the identification of high risk population under specific circumstances, e.g. due to their extended water contact and frequent head submersions, children may be more prone to contract otitis external due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Certainly a waterborne infection depends on the total bacterial counts, the immune status of the subjects, and polluted waters. The results of the past studies demonstrate the variability of the recreational water quality and the need for continuous monitoring. Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY Research Design This study will use descriptive study design that involves in the identification of enteric bacteria in selected resorts in the Cavite province. There will be 20 sampling sites, 10 from swimming pools, 5 from rivers or lakes and 5 from beaches. In every sampling site there will be a total of 1 sample that will be gathered and it will be replicated into three and a total of 60 sterilized bottles with cover will be used for the 4-month period of experiment that will be done during the summer season and the rainy season. Research Setting The entire study will be conducted for 12 weeks. The identification of total bacteria and enteric bacteria will be done in Biology Research Laboratory of DLSU-D. Research Procedure Water Sample Collection (MicroMed Environmental, 2010) Sterilized 300ml wide-mouthed glass will be used in the collection of samples. Water samples will be obtained from recreational waters. The sterile containers will be plunge into the water surface until 1 foot below. Then open the bottle towards the direction of the current to allow the container to fill. Afterwards, it will be immediately sealed tightly and placed on a cooler to maintain the temperature. The samples will be obtained during the months of april and june of 2012. The chlorine concentration will also be measured using Hach Test Kit for chlorine. Chromogenic Media for Bacteria Undiluted samples will be used in the determination of total bacteria. Briefly one milliliter of sample will be spread plated onto Plate Count Agar. The plates will be incubated at 37 °C for 24 hours. Colonies that will grow will be converted into colony forming units and will be correlated to chlorine concentration and compared to enteric bacteria. For the detection of enteric bacteria the samples will be enriched in buffered peptone water for 24 hours. After 24 hours the enriched samples will be spread plated onto Salmonella-Shigella Agar and Eosin Methylene Blue Agar. Colonies resembling to enteric bacteria will be purified and confirmed using API 20E kit. Determination of the Microbial Count (BioMà ©rieux, 2002) Preparation of incubation box and inoculum will be done for the strip. In the inoculation of the strip, filling both tube and cupule of tests CIT, VP and GEL with bacterial suspension as for the remaining tests fill only the tube and not the cupule. In creating anaerobiosis ADH, LDC, ODC, H2S and URE should be overlay with mineral oil. The incubation box will be incubated for 37 °C for 24 hours. Certain color reactions will happen for the indication of positive or negative result. Data Gathering Colonies in the EMBA and PCA will be characterized using colonial characterization which includes size, form, margin, elevation, consistency, surface and pigmentation (Tabo, 2005). Biochemical test include ONPG, ADH, LDC, ODC, CIT, H2S, URE, TDA, IND, VP, GEL, GLU, MAN, INO, SOR, RHA, SAC, MEL, AMY, ARA, OX. The chlorine concentration will be measured in 0-600 mg/L. Statistical Treatment To determine the correlation between chlorine concentration and total bacteria and enteric bacteria, a simple correlation will be used. All statistical analysis will be conducted in STATA 9.0 with 0.05 as level of significance. APPENDIX A GANTT CHART APPENDIX B BUDGET PROPOSAL Item Volume/Mass Estimated Price (PhP) Quantity Expense (PhP) EQUIPMENTS AND KITS Biomerieux Inc Biomerieux API 20E KIT 100g Pack of 100 20160 13000.00 1 13000.00 Hachs Chlorine Test Strips, 0-600mg/L Pack of 2890200 876.31 1 876.31 AGARS Salmonella-Shigella Agar 50 g 500.00 1 500.00 Eosin Methylene Blue Agar 50 g 500.00 1 500.00 Plate Count Agar 500.00 1 500.00 TOTAL 15376.31 APPENDIX C LETTER TO THE HOSPITAL March 13, 2012 Ms. Teresita E. Guevarra Medical Records Head De La Salle University Medical Center Dear Ms. Guevarra: Greetings in the name of St. John Baptist De La Salle! We are writing to ask permission from you in getting information that we will need for our thesis defense on the upcoming December 2012. We are Human Biology major students from De La Salle University-Dasmarià ±as and we are going to conduct a study regarding the possible prevalence of enteric bacteria in selected resorts in Dasmarià ±as, Cavite. Regarding this, we would like to request for the following information: Reported cases of salmonellosis and acute gastroenteritis in this hospital for the last two years (2010 and 2011) We are hoping for your positive response towards our request. If ever the information we need will not be available today, you may contact us at 09164745448 and 09272546946. Thank you very much for your time. Sincerely, Ron Matthew A. Flores John Paul A. Flores Noted by: ____________________ _____________________ Mrs. Hazel Ann L. Tabo Dr. Carmelita C. Cervillon BSD Faculty, DLSU-D (Thesis Adviser) College Dean, DLSU-D _____________________ Ms Cherry Z. Cuevas, MS BSD Chair, DLSU-D APPENDIX D COLOR REACTION TESTS RESULTS (negative) + RESULTS (positive) ONPG colorless yellow ADH Yellow red/orange LDC Yellow red/orange ODC Yellow red/orange CIT pale green/yellow blue-green/blue H2S colorless/gray black deposit URE Yellow red/orange TDA Yellow brown-red IND Yellow red (2 min.) VP colorless pink/red (10 min.) GEL no diffusion of black black diffuse GLU blue/blue-green yellow MAN blue/blue-green yellow INO blue/blue-green yellow SOR blue/blue-green yellow RHA blue/blue-green yellow SAC blue/blue-green yellow MEL blue/blue-green yellow AMY blue/blue-green yellow ARA blue/blue-green yellow OX colorless/yellow violet LITERATURE CITED Amador RM, Amante PP. Detection and isolation of coliform bacteria in Laguna de Bay Brgy. Landayan San Pedro Laguna; 2001. p.67. Bago CEM, Linantud JF, Ortiz MP. Stability and Profitability of Resort Business in Dasmarinas, Cavite. 2004. P.1-2-ix-29. Barwicks RS., Levy DA., Craun GF., Beach MJ., Calderon RL. 2000. Surveillance for water borne-Disease Outbreaks-united-states ,1997-1998 CDC Brown, A. E. 2005. Bensons Microbiological Applications 9th Edition, McGraw Hill, New York. Beumer, R.R., et al., 1991. Enzyme-linked immunoassays for the detection of Salmonella spp.: a comparison with other methods, Elsevier Science Publisher, B.V. 0168-1605/91 Carteciano JA., 2004. Four Emerging Bacteria: So Tiny, So deadly. National Research Council of the Philippines. Hammer Sr. M, Hammer Jr. M. Water and waste water technology. New Jersey; 2004.p.140 Levantesi, C., et al., 2011.Salmonella in surface and drinking water: Occurrence and water-mediated transmission, Food Research International, doi:10.1016/j.foodres.2011.06.037; Mann, D. Beware of Recreational Water Illnesses, WebMD. [Internet]. 2005 [cited 2011 December 28]. Available from HYPERLINK http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/beware-of-recreational-water-illnesses Marion, J., et al., 2010.Association of Gastrointestinal illness and recreational water exposure at inland U.S beach, water research international; Martin, M., et al., 1995.Assessment of microbiology quality for swimming pools in South America. MicroMed Environmental, Inc. [Internet]. 2010 [cited 2012 March 25]. Available from HYPERLINK http://www.igmicromed.com/docs.html Montano JM, Abear R. 2000.Detection of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in relation to microbial population of selected swimming pools in dasmarinas cavite. De la Salle University Dasmarinas. p.52. Schets F., et al., Exposure Assessment of swimmers in bathing water and swimming pools, water research. 2010. Tabo, Norbel A. 2005. Laboratory Manual in Microbiology, Rex Bookstore Inc, Manila. p. 63-67 Yoder JS., Hlavasa MC., Craun GF., Hill V., Roberts V., Yu PA., Hicks LA., Alexander NT., Calderon RL., Roy SL., and Beach MJ.2008. Surveillance for waterborne disease and outbreaks associated with recreational water use and other aquatic facility- associated health events-united states 2005-2006- CDC.

How do the directors Franco Zeffirelli Essay

Both films are based around the original script by Shakespeare, yet both directors have adapted the script slightly too go with their version of the film â€Å"Romeo and Juliet. † Baz Luhrmann’s version of â€Å"Romeo and Juliet† begins with a shot of a television; this tells the viewers that the film is set in modern times, rather than Elizabethan England. The news reporter reads out the background history of the â€Å"ancient grudge. † Whilst she reads, the camera slowly zooms in, as this happens shots of newspapers and magazine headlines flash up creating the feeling that the fights between the two families affect the whole city whilst this is happening there is some operatic music in the background which is brought into the foreground, so that we get the impression the film is going to be about a fight between two families that end in tragedy. The screen blanks, and the film starts. The Montague boys are driving up a motorway in a bright yellow customised 4Ãâ€"4 in the background you can hear hip-hop music, this makes the Montague boys seem fun, peaceful and approachable. They pull into a petrol station where the Cauplet boys are introduced. You instantly feel that the Capulet boys are the opposite of the Montagues, because they are dressed in Mafia style clothes. The whole fight is sparked by one of the Montague boys biting their thumb at the Capulets. There are a lot of shots of just the actor’s eyes this is used to build up tension. In the background Spaghetti western music is playing this gives me the feeling there is going to be an old western style shoot out. Baz Lurhmann uses fast motion a few times this is to add a little bit of comedy in a serious moment in the film. Tybolt comes into the picture and stomps out a cigarette. The fight starts; most of the fight is in slow motion I think that it is used to make the fight look more dramatic. The operatic music starts again in the background creating the affect of violence and hate. The camera pans to one of the Montague boys who is running away through the traffic, and the two others speeding away in their car for their lives, you can hear the sounds of car horns which is then drowned out by the oncoming helicopter. The camera shot is then from the point of view of Captain Prince in the helicopter. This makes the two men on the floor look small and insignificant compared to the chief. Where as Zeffirelli’s version is a lot slower and easy going. The start of the film is of rolling hills at dawn, with Sir Lawrence Olivia’s voice and medieval style music in the background. The music is more romantic than Baz Lurhmann’s choice but they both work equally as well. The camera pans following a horse and cart along a walled city, this is to remind us it is set in Verona. In the background you can hear the hustle and bustle of the market town, the market is were we first see the Capulets talking to each other, in this version of the film the Capulets are portrayed as the rebellious ones, playing and joking around, the camera pans to the Montagues who are talking to a stall owner. The Capulets walk over to cause uproar, one of the Capulets bites his thumb and they have a confrontation. In the background there is silence and there are shots of the town folks standing watching them, you can hear one man say â€Å"look at them! † I think this is used to show how the villagers react to all the fighting. As the scuffle breaks up the Montague’s turn leave, one of their elder members is tripped over by the Capulets. The fight starts in the background the director has chosen to have screaming and the sound of people fleeing. The town bell rings in the foreground. My interpretation of this is that the bell is supposed to alert the Prince of Verona, and to tell the people to stay away from the market square. Benvolio is introduced with a crowd of Montagues behind him creating the feeling he is an important figure in the film. The fighting stops for a few moments then Tybalt says â€Å"Peace but I hate peace†¦ † Then the fighting continues, the noise of the brawl dominates for quite some time until the sound of trumpets echoes the town, the trumpets grow louder with the noise of hooves. The Prince arrives on a white horse with several trumpet players behind him. The Prince looks down on his unruly subjects. This makes the Prince look very powerful compared to the people on the ground, there is silence whilst the prince addresses the crowd this gives me the impression that the Montagues and Capulets respect the Prince’s authority over them.

The New Century Financial Corporation Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 24 Words: 7122 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? In 2006, a boom in U.S. housing prices abruptly reverses course; between the fourth quarter of 2005 and the first quarter of 2006, median U.S. housing prices fall 3.3 percent. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The New Century Financial Corporation Finance Essay" essay for you Create order These declines accelerate in 2007. The downturn prompts a collapse of the U.S. subprime mortgage industry, which offered loans to individuals with poor credit or no cash for a down payment. More than twenty-five subprime lending firms declare bankruptcy in February and March 2007. The collapse rattles the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which on February 27 loses 416 points, or 3.3 percent, its biggest one-day point loss since 9/11. New Century Financial Corporation, the largest U.S. subprime lender, files for bankruptcy following a series of bankruptcies at smaller subprime lending firms. Analysts worry about the impact debt from subprime mortgages will have on the financial sector, which invested heavily in securitized debt from subprime loans. July 31 2007: Bear Sterns Hedge Funds Bear Stearns, one of the largest investment banks in the United States, announces two of its hedge funds have lost almost all of their investor capital and will file for bankruptcy. The bank previ ously attempted to use money from other parts of its operations to bail out the funds and halted redemptions, but the losses at the funds, which eclipsed 90 percent of original holdings, proved too large. This is one of the first signs of major problems in financial markets beyond the subprime loan industry. August 2007: Subprime woes go global Subprime mortgage problems go global as hedge funds and banks around the world reveal substantial holdings of mortgage-backed securities in their investment portfolios. Frances BNP Paribas announces on August 9 that it cannot value the assets held by three of its hedge funds. Other EU banks follow with similar announcements. The European Central Bank immediately steps in offering low-interest credit lines to these banks August 10 2007: Global Coordination With lending markets drying up around the world, central banks coordinate to inject liquidity into credit markets for the first time since 9/11. The U.S. Federal Reserve, the Eur opean Central Bank, and the Banks of Australia, Canada, and Japan all inject money. On August 15, Countrywide Financial, the largest mortgage lender in the United States, says foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies have risen to their highest levels since 2002. September 13 2007: Northern Rock Northern Rock, a British bank, requests emergency funds from Britains central bank. A run on deposits at Northern Rock ensues, with large lines forming outside bank branches. In February 2008, Northern Rock will be taken into state ownership. Sep 18 2007 : Fed Slashes Rate The U.S. Federal Reserve makes its first in a series of interest rate cuts, lowering the benchmark federal funds rate from 5.25 percent to 4.75 percent. By November 2008, the Fed will cut rates to 1 percent, as displayed on the adjoined chart. In December 2008, they will make another cut, lowering rates to between 0 percent and 0.25 percent. October 9 2007: Market Peak The Dow Jones Industrial Average, whi ch measures the combined stock values of the thirty largest companies in the United States, peaks at 14,164. By February 2009, the Dow will fall to just over 6,500. October 10 2007: Subprime mortgage plan Following a request from President George W. Bush, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson unveil a plan called the Hope Now Alliance aimed at stemming a wave of foreclosures on U.S. subprime mortgages by freezing interest rates on some loans. The plan spotlights concerns that variable mortgages, which adjust from a low initial interest rate to higher interest rates over time, will gradually force more homeowners to default on their home mortgages. Critics eventually fault the plan for taking too long to implement and not going far enough to stabilize the subprime market. October 15-17 2007: Super SIV Plan A consortium of banks backed by the U.S. government announces plans for a $100 billion fund to buy and u nwind structured investment vehicles (SIVs), a complicated financial instrument bundling different forms of debt, including debt from subprime mortgages, into tradable securities. Citigroup, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase agree to form the fund, which will purchase and value existing SIVs, to help restore confidence in interbank lending markets. The plan crumbles, however, due to lack of demand for the mortgage-backed assets packaged in the SIVs and difficulties coordinating among participating banks. The Treasury abandons the idea on December 24. Jan 24 2008: Real Estate Fear The National Association of Realtors releases data for 2007 showing the largest single-year drop in U.S. home sales in twenty-five years, increasing fears that more Americans will default on mortgage debt and other forms of debt, adding to credit market problems. March 14 2008: Bear Sterns bailout Bear Stearns, one of the largest U.S. investment banks, announces major liquidity problems and is granted a twenty-eight-day emergency loan from the New York Federal Reserve Bank. Investors are fearful that the firms collapse could spark a collapse of the financial sector. Two days later, JPMorgan Chase buys Bear Stearns for $2 per share (later, it will increase its bid to $10 per share). The bank traded at a high of $172 per share about two months earlier. The collapse and sale of one of the most iconic institutions on Wall Street sparks broad fears about the future of the financial sector. March 31st 2008: Paulsons plan Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson proposes a broad overhaul of the U.S. financial system. The plan calls for the possible merger of two major regulatory bodies, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It is also interpreted as giving additional powers to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Many of the long-term regulatory proposals from the plan remain under consideration. July 15 2008 Paulsons Bazooka Following th e collapse of IndyMac, a major Pasadena commercial bank, and with problems swirling around U.S. mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson makes reference to his bazooka option. His comments lead many analysts to believe that the U.S. government will step in to stabilize any financial institution so large that its collapse poses systemic risks. September 7 2008: Government Interventions The U.S. government announces it will seize control of federal mortgage insurers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, in what is considered Washingtons most dramatic credit crisis intervention to date. The two firms are riddled by mortgage defaults, and federal regulators fear their collapse could lead to massive collateral damage for financial markets and the U.S. economy. September 15 2008: Lehman Collapses On September 15, Lehman Brothers, a major global investment bank and a fixture in the U.S. financial sector for more than 150 years, files for the largest b ankruptcy in U.S. history. The announcement spooks many investors who had assumed the U.S. Treasury would act to prevent a bank the size of Lehman from failing. On the same day, Bank of America announces a $50 billion purchase of the investment bank Merrill Lynch, reassuring investors of Merrills ability to cover its short-term debts and stave off bankruptcy. The following day, credit ratings agencies downgrade AIG, the largest insurer in the United States. On September 17, the U.S. Federal Reserve loans AIG $85 billion. Septemeber 19 2008: Rescue Plans Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveils a rescue plan dubbed the Troubled Assets Relief Program, or TARP. The plan aims to use $700 billion of U.S. taxpayer assets to stabilize markets. It also proposes a plan to buy troubled and difficult-to-value assets from the countrys largest financial firms, value them, and resell them, in the hopes of restoring confidence in credit markets. Later, on November 12, Paulson will abandon th e element of the plan aimed at buying toxic assets, focusing the remainder of the TARP assets on recapitalizing financial firms. September 21 2008: Goldman and Morgan convert status The two largest U.S. investment banks, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, announce they will convert to bank holding companies, exposing them to additional government regulation but also giving them access to more loans from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Combined with the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the sales of Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch, the move marks the end of independent investment banks, symbols of Wall Streets success in the second half of the twentieth century. September 25-29, 2008: Bank Failures Washington Mutual is seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and declares bankruptcy; the next day, the FDIC sells the banks assets to another bank, JPMorgan Chase. On September 29, another major U.S. bank, Wachovia, enters crisis takeover talks with Citigroup. Wachovi a is purchased in early October by Wells Fargo. October 01 -03 2008: Congress acts After the U.S. House of Representatives rejects Treasury Secretary Henry Paulsons $700 billion rescue package on September 29, the U.S. Senate approves revised legislation on October 1. As calls for quick action mount from business leaders, the media, and the U.S. public, the House passes the revised legislation on October 3. EU safeguards: October 02 2008 Ireland approves a guarantee of bank deposits, setting off criticism from EU partners of unfair competition and spurring moves by individual European countries to safeguard banks. October 06-07 2008: Fed Intervention With equity and credit markets both reeling, the U.S. Federal Reserve moves on October 6 to make an additional $900 billion of short-term lending available to banks. The next day, the Fed announces plans to lend approximately $1.3 trillion to companies outside the financial sector. Dow finishes worst week: October 10 2008 Amid spiralling financial concerns, the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffers t he worst week of losses in its history, dropping 22.1 percent. During the course of the week, the U.S. Federal Reserve intervenes in loan markets, extending aid both to banks and nonfinancial firms. The Danish government follows Ireland and guarantees bank deposits; BNP Paribas takes over Fortis, making it the largest bank in the Euro zone; and Iceland passes legislation to nationalize, merge, or force into bankruptcy failing banks. The central banks of the United States, the EU, Britain, China, Canada, Sweden, and Switzerland make coordinated interest rate cuts. G7 leaders coordinate October 08 2011 Finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7), which includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States, meet in Washington. They do not agree on a concrete plan to address the crisis, despite growing calls for a coordinated international response. Two days later, several European countries move to nationalize banks and increase liquidity. November 07 2008: Heavey US job losses The United States announces 240,000 jobs were lost in October 2008, the first in a series of announcements of heavy job losses that continues into 2009. By March 2009, U.S. unemployment will reach 8.5 percent, its highest level in over twenty-five years. November 14 2008: Finance Summit Leaders from the worlds Group of Twenty (G20) major economies gather in Washington for a summit billed by many as the second coming of the 1944 Bretton Woods conference. The leaders release a communique outlining plans for further meetings and calling for ambitious reforms to the global financial system. The leaders also make firm statements against trade protectionism, though most of the G20 member states will implement protectionist measures in the months following the summit. January 20 2009: Obamas Economic team Barack Obama succeeds George W. Bush to become the forty-fourth president of the United States. Obama promises to make addressing economic con cerns his top priority and pledges sweeping policy changes to address the crisis, saying only government can lead the United States out of its economic doldrums. He appoints former New York Federal Reserve Chair Timothy Geithner to head the U.S. Treasury and Christina Romer, a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, as the chair of his Council of Economic Advisers. Jan 27 2009: Icelands government collapses A financial meltdown in Iceland, a country that had focused its economy heavily on the financial sector, leads the Icelandic government coalition to crumble. The collapse marks the first political casualty of the financial crisis. By the end of February, the governments of Belgium and Latvia also will collapse due in part to domestic financial turmoil. February 17 2009: Stimulus Spending Amid a wave of global spending on fiscal stimulus, President Barack Obama signs a $787 billion stimulus package into law. The bill aims to boost vital sector s of the U.S. economy, including energy and health care. It wins praise from some economists, who laud Obamas recognition of the urgency of the moment, but others criticize the bill for inefficiencies. Feb 25 2009: Early Moves Under Obama U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveils the details of a plan for stress tests at big U.S. banks to determine the strength of their balance sheets. The move comes as part of Geithners Financial Stability Plan, which coordinates action among several U.S. regulators. Other parts of the plan include a Public-Private Investment Program, designed to facilitate private-sector investment in troubled assets, and the Term Asset-Backed Securities Lending Facility, or TALF, designed to free up credit to consumers and small businesses. March 18 2009: Quantitative easing The U.S. Federal Reserve announces it will buy an additional $750 billion in mortgage-backed securities and $300 billion in U.S. treasuriesa move known as quantitative easi ngto try to push long-term interest rates down and jumpstart economic activity. On November 3, 2010, the Fed announces it will initiate another round of QE by buying up $600 billion in long-term treasuries, to be completed by the end of June 2011. The Fed says it will also reinvest between $250 and $300 billion of proceeds from its mortgage-related holdings to buy other government bonds. April 02 2009: G20 Summit Following up on Group of Twenty meetings in Washington in November 2008, heads of state from twenty of the worlds leading economies meet in London. At the meetings, the G20 nations pledge to triple funding for the International Monetary Fund, as well as directing new money to trade financing. The leaders do not make any major statement on increasing global stimulus spending, a focus of the United States ahead of the meetings. Following a major push by France and Germany, the leaders do, however, announce their intention to crack down on tax havens and improve internat ional regulation of financial flows. June 17 2009: Financial Regulation Plan Having already moved to tighten regulation on specific aspects of financial markets, including the market for complex derivatives, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers introduce a sweeping proposal to reform the U.S. financial regulatory system. The plan calls for giving additional oversight powers to the U.S. Federal Reserve, aimed at better enabling the Fed to monitor systemic risk. The plan also calls for higher capital and liquidity requirements for banks, new reporting requirements for issuers of asset-backed securities, and the creation of a council of regulators aimed at coordinating among different existing regulators. September 25 2009: G 20 supplants G8 Nearly a year after the financial crisis began, G20 leaders meet again, in Pittsburgh. The meeting firmly establishes the G20 as the supreme coordinating body for global economic affairs, supplanting the G8. Leaders agree to at least a 5 percent shift in voting rights in the International Monetary Fund from developed countries to developing countries and that IMF leadership should be chosen based on merit rather than nationality. The G20 pledges to develop policies to prevent the re-emergence of unsustainable global financial flows, acknowledging the need to improve savings rates in high-deficit countries like the United States, while spurring consumer spending in high-surplus countries like China. October 26 2009: Greeces Debt problem spiral Greeces new government vows to overhaul its finances after announcing the 2009 budget deficit will be 12.7 percent of GDP, far in excess of the EUs 3 percent limit. Six weeks later, rating agency Fitch cuts Greeces sovereign debt rating to below A grade for the first time in ten years. Public sector riots erupt in Athens in response to EU demands for Greece to outline a strict deficit-reducing plan under threat of sanctio ns. November 26 2009: Dubai world Debt woes Dubai government-owned conglomerate Dubai World requests a six-month standstill on $26 billion in loan repayments, amid rising sovereign debt fears in Europe. The request draws global attention to Dubais tenuous financial position in the wake of a massive building boom. Nearly three weeks later, fellow emirate Abu Dhabi offers Dubai a $10 billion bailout to avoid a default and allow the investment company to negotiate a debt restructuring. Sovereign Debt Crisis Woes Standard Poors downgrades Greeces credit rating to junk, making the country the first eurozone member to lose investment-grade status. The cost of servicing Greeces short-term debt rises sharply. The next day it downgrades Spains rating because of poor growth prospects. German Chancellor Angela Merkel demands Greece toughen its proposed austerity measures before Germany will approve a joint EU-IMF rescue package. April 27 2010: Sovereign Debt Crisis spreads S tandard Poors downgrades Greeces credit rating to junk, making the country the first eurozone member to lose investment-grade status. The cost of servicing Greeces short-term debt rises sharply. The next day it downgrades Spains rating because of poor growth prospects. German Chancellor Angela Merkel demands Greece toughen its proposed austerity measures before Germany will approve a joint EU-IMF rescue package. May 2010: Greek Bailout and Creation of EFSF On May 2, the EU and IMF announce a $146 billion financial rescue package for Greece to address its sovereign debt crisis in exchange for the country enacting strict austerity measures. Less than two weeks later, the EU and IMF agree to create a temporary eurozone stability mechanismthe European Financial Stability Facilityworth $1 trillion. The move comes in conjunction with a decision by the European Central Bank to buy eurozone government bonds on the open market in an effort to provide an added safety net for the euro a rea. June 2010: G20 spending disagreements As the G20 convenes in Toronto, a disagreement appears to sharpen over economic recovery strategies. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel send a letter to summit host Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper urging his support for fiscal tightening among G20 countries. U.S. President Barack Obama stresses the need for continued spending to support growth and warns that excessive government spending cuts could lead to renewed hardships and recession. In their closing statement, member countries agree to halve their annual deficits within three years and stabilize their overall debt by 2016. November 28 2010: Irish Bailout The EU and IMF agree to provide Ireland with a $114 billion rescue package. The fund will help Ireland to manage its sovereign debt and recapitalize its insolvent banking sector, after having been forced into debt as a result of insuring its banks against all losses at the peak of t he crisis in 2008. May 05 2011: Portuguese Bailout The EU and IMF agree to provide Portugal with a $116 billion rescue package. Portugals dependence on foreign debtdemonstrated by a current account deficit that was over 10 percent of GDP in 2009makes it susceptible to sovereign debt contagion. Credit rating agencies predict Portugals exposure to the debt crisis will become unsustainable, and investors agree, ultimately making it too prohibitive for the country to finance itself on global debt markets. July 21 2011: A second Greek bailout Mounting fears over sovereign debt contagion to Italy and Spain force an emergency eurozone summit, where EU and IMF officials agree to provide Greece with a second financial rescue package worth $156 billion. The plan calls for an additional $55 billion in contributions by private bondholders, which could lead to a Greek default. Eurozone leaders also agree to an expansion of the temporary European Financial Stability Facility, which wi ll now be authorized to buy eurozone bonds on secondary markets and to lend directlyat lower ratesto troubled countries before they lose access to market financing. August 07 2011: ECB Bond Buying The European Central Bank announces it will actively implement its Securities Market Program to buy up Spanish and Italian government debt. The moves come amid a worsening eurozone sovereign debt crisis and soaring yields on Spanish and Italian bonds. September 21 2011: Operation Twist The U.S. Federal Reserve announces a new measure to stimulate the beleaguered economyknown as Operation Twist, a Fed policy originally enacted in the 1960sby which it will sell $400 billion in short-term treasuries in exchange for longer-term bonds. The move is part of a continuing effort to keep long-term interest rates down and generate borrowing. The controversial plan provokes a backlash from Republican lawmakers. The Fed also faces internal dissent, as three regional bank presidents vote aga inst the policy. Regulation and Deregulation Gold Standard 1880 As the industrial revolution blossoms in the United States and Europe, the United States adopts the gold standard, making U.S. currency freely convertible into gold at a fixed price. Currency election 1896 Monetary policy becomes a defining issue in the 1896 U.S. presidential campaign. Republican candidate William McKinley runs on a platform calling for industrial growth and a continuation of the gold standard. Democrat William Jennings Bryan runs on a populist ticket calling for bimetallism, in which silver is freely exchangeable for the U.S. dollar. McKinley wins, though skepticism about the gold standard persists. Federal Reserve system created 1913 Following a financial panic in 1907, calls for banking and currency reform lead to the creation of the Federal Reserve System, in which a central government bank lends to regional banks. The primary purpose of the system is to increase financial liquidity and to give the U.S. government better control over its currency. Click here for more on the structure and functions of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The New Deal 1933 The onset of the Great Depression, following the stock market crash in 1929, prompts a series of regulations by the incoming administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. First, in April 1933, the United States government outlaws nearly all private ownership of gold and places significant limits on gold exports. One month later, the Securities Act of 1933 requires that any interstate sale of securities be registered with the federal government. In June 1933, the Glass-Steagall Act creates the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which guarantees private bank accounts up to a certain value. The act also gives the Federal Reserve control over the interest rates at which it lends to banks and prevents banks from operating as either insurance companies or investment firms. In June 1934, the U.S. government creates the Securities and Exchange Commission, a body tasked broadly with regulating transactions of securities. Finally, in 1938, the Federal National Mortgage Association ( FNMA, or Fannie Mae) is created in order to improve liquidity in the U.S. mortgage market. New Accounting Standards 1936 New accounting Standards : 1936 The U.S. government forms the Committee on Accounting Procedure, the first major attempt to regularize business performance reporting procedures in the United States. The committee institutes a framework called Generally Accepted Accounting Principles to provide a common framework for financial accounting. The Committee on Accounting Procedure is often considered to have failed in its primary objectives, but it evolves into future bodiesthe Accounting Principles Board in 1959, and then the Financial Accounting Standards Board in 1973that broaden the scope of U.S. accounting regulation. Bretton woods 1944 Following two years of negotiations and half a decade of war, world leaders meet in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, and draft the first framework intended to govern monetary relations among the worlds largest economies. The conference results in a system of fixed exchange rates, the creation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and plans for a third organizati on, aimed at governing world trade, that will eventually be founded as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade in 1947. Fannie Freddie 1968-70 In 1968, the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA, or Fannie Mae), which was created in the late 1930s to purchase and securitize U.S. mortgages, is privatized as a government-sponsored enterprise, a special designation for a private company created by Congress to serve a specific financial role. In 1970, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC, or Freddie Mac), is created to expand the secondary market for home mortgages and to compete with Fannie Mae. Nixon ends International gold standard 1971 Embroiled in the Vietnam War, the financing of which requires the U.S. to sell its currency abroad and prompts rising inflation, U.S. President Richard Nixon cancels the Bretton Woods system of monetary governance and ends the direct convertibility of the dollar to gold. The move, which includes temporary wage and pric e controls and an import surcharge, becomes known as the Nixon Shock, in part because it was made without consulting members of the international monetary system or the U.S. State Department. In December 1971, a group of ten countries signs what becomes known as the Smithsonian Agreement, pledging that they will allow their currencies to appreciate against the U.S. dollar. Credit Expands 1974 -77 The Equal Credit Opportunity Act, passed in 1974, makes it illegal for creditors to discriminate against loan applicants on the basis of race, gender, religion, ethnicity, marital status, or age. In so doing, it opens credit opportunities to a much larger group of Americans. One year later, the Securities and Exchange Commission establishes a regulation called the net capital rule, limiting broker and dealer leverage (the ratio of debt to capital) to 12-to-1 on their investments. In 1977, the Community Reinvestment Act requires banks and savings and loan organizations to make credit a vailable to low- income households. 1980-1982 Banking Deregulation In 1980, the Depository Institutions Deregulation and Monetary Control Act deregulates interest rates, allows bank mergers, and allows savings and loan institutions and credit unions to offer checking accounts. Two years later, the Garn-St.Germain Depository Institutions Act further deregulates the savings and loan industry by allowing it to offer a new kind of account, the money market deposit account, aimed at helping the industry better compete with money market mutual funds. 1983: Collateralized Debt The financial firms Salomon Brothers and First Boston create the first collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), tradable securities combining debt pooled from bonds, loans, mortgage-backed securities, and other assets. CDOs will figure prominently in the financial crisis of the late 2000s. Savings and loan crisis: 1986 In October, the United States passes the Tax Reform Act of 1986, an attempt to sim plify the income tax code and eliminate real estate tax shelters. The act has unintended consequences, however. It pops the real estate bubble that characterized the first half of the 1980s, and eventually catalyzes a crisis at savings and loan institutions (SLs) across the United States. Over seven hundred U.S. SLs fail between 1986 and 1991. The crisis does not subside until after the 1989 Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act, which introduces new regulation of the savings and loan industry and creates the Resolution Trust Corp oration, a body tasked with unwinding the contracts of failed SLs. Basel 1988 Central bankers from the worlds largest economies publish a set of banking standards, focusing on establishing minimal capital requirements, that is eventually implemented in the United States, Canada, Japan, and ten European countries. It is followed, in 2004, by a broader accord called Basel II which attempts to set up more rigorous capital and risk management requirements. Pooled Credit proliferates 1992 Congress passes the Federal Housing Enterprises Financial Safety and Soundness Act, which requires government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to devote a percentage of their lending to affordable housing. This leads to an increase in the overall number of loans being pooled and securitized. Two years later, JPMorgan introduces the first credit default swap (CDS), a credit derivative which can act as a kind of insurance against defaults for investors in credit. Over the next decade and a half, CDSs become the most widely traded credit derivative product globally. The CDS market proves a major source of systemic financial risk when major CDS-issuing firms, including AIG and Lehman Brothers, find themselves in financial trouble. Subprime market grows 1995-99 affordable-housing lending obligations for buying subprime securities, thus encouraging the proliferation of risky housing loans during the latt er half of the 1990s. In September 1999, government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae eases credit requirements to encourage banks to extend loans to people whose credit is not good enough to qualify them for conventional loans, further encouraging growth in the subprime lending industry. Bank and Credit Deregulation 1999 In November, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act partially repeals the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, allowing banks to operate other financial businesses such as insurance and investment brokerages. One year later, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act exempts credit default swaps and trading on electronic energy commodity markets from regulation. Greenspan cuts interest rates 2000 2001 Prompted by the bursting dotcom bubble and the resulting recession, and with policymakers fearing deflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve, led by Alan Greenspan, lowers its benchmark interest rate eleven times. Low interest rates lead to an easy-credit environment, encouraging lending practices that will prove to be unsustainable later in the decade. The resulting credit bubble plays a large role in the run-up to the financial crisis of 2008. Sarbanes-Oxley 2002 In response to a series of corporate governance and accounting scandals, Congress passes the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in an effort to improve government oversight of corporate accounting procedures and securities markets. Supporters argue this legislation succeeds in restoring confidence in U.S. securities markets, but critics say it places undue restrictions on U.S. corporations and puts them at a disadvantage internationally. Leverage restrictions lifted 2004 In April, the SEC changes the net capital rule, which had limited broker-dealers and investment banks to a 12-to-1 leverage (the ratio of debt to equity) on investments. The change allows firms with more than $5 billion in assets to leverage themselves an unlimited number of times. Qualifying firms at the time include Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley. In the years that follow, these firms greatly increase the amount of leverage they employ, to a point where in 2007 they routinely use thirty times leverage on investments. None of the five firms survive the 2008 credit crisis intact as independent investment banks. Paulsons Regulatory Plan: 2008 Amid a rapidly unfolding financial crisis, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson unveils a proposal for a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. financial regulatory system. Paulsons proposal calls for consolidation among the federal and state bodies tasked with supervising financial firms, including a merger of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The plan is also interpreted as giving additional powers to the U.S. Federal Reserve. Many of the long-term proposals from the plan are still under consideration as of early 2009. Beyond legislation, sever al financial events in 2008 work to change the financial regulatory order. In September, the U.S. government nationalizes the mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, leading to much more direct government oversight of the firms. Later that month, the investment banks Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley convert from private investment banks to bank holding companies, subjecting themselves to additional federal oversight in exchange for new loan opportunities. Obamas regulatory Plan 2009 Having already moved to tighten regulation on specific aspects of financial markets, including the market for complex derivatives, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers introduce a sweeping proposal to reform the U.S. financial regulatory system. The plan calls for giving additional oversight powers to the U.S. Federal Reserve, aimed at better enabling the Fed to monitor systemic risk. The plan also calls for higher capital and liquidity requirem ents for banks, new reporting requirements for issuers of asset-backed securities, and the creation of a council of regulators aimed at coordinating among different existing regulators. US Financial overhaul Dod Frank Wall Street reform President Barack Obama signs into law a financial reform bill giving the federal government new powers to regulate Wall Street and prevent financial crises. The bill includes creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a Financial Services Oversight Council of existing regulators to monitor market stability. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation gains power to seize and dismantle troubled financial firms deemed too big to fail, and proprietary trading (when banks invest for their own profit) is banned. The bill also limits the scope of banks investments in hedge funds and private equity funds and requires most derivatives to be traded through public clearinghouses or exchanges. Capitalism in theory and practice 1776 : Wealth of Nations With war raging in North America as Britains colonies there fight for independence, a British economist named Adam Smith publishes the seminal text defending modern liberal economic theory, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The book, which is often referred to simply as The Wealth of Nations, advocates free-market economies and promotes the idea that individuals pursuing their own economic self-interest can create unintended positive side effects for the overall economy. 1820: Industrial revolution The development of the Watt steam engine in the late eighteenth century spurs a wave of industrial development in Europe and the United States, which comes to be known as the Industrial Revolution. Major changes alter the face of agriculture, manufacturing, and transportation, and rewrite the economic status quo that had dominated Europe for centuries. 1846: Corn laws repealed Britain repeals its Corn Laws, a system of tariffs aimed at bolstering British competition against foreign imports. The move signals a shift away from British mercantilisma theory of trade that holds the global volume of trade is unchangeable and thus focuses on building a positive balance of trade with other nations. It marks a significant step toward increasing free trade internationally. 1848: Communist/Capitalist Divide With unrest erupting across Europe, the German philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels publish The Communist Manifesto, the founding work of communist economic and social theory; the same year, the British philosopher John Stuart Mill publishes The Principles of Political Economy, which will become the dominant textbook on economics through most of the remainder of the nineteenth century. These two works coincide with the rise of laissez-faire economics, which espouses limited government intervention in the economy and which takes hold particularly in Britain during the middle part of the 1800s . The growing popularity of The Economist, a British news publication founded in 1843 that advocates liberal economic theory, accompanies this tide. 1884 : Fabian Socialism An elite British intellectual group, founded in 1884 and calling itself the Fabian Society after the Roman general Fabius, promotes a strand of utopian socialism drawing from the ideas of Karl Marx but eschewing the violent revolutionary tactics of some of his followers. The group becomes known for its essays and literary works; its ranks include the prominent intellectuals Sidney and Beatrice Webb, George Bernard Shaw, H.G. Wells, and Virginia Woolf. The society promotes ideas such as the nationalization of property and the implementation of a minimum wage. Its followers figure prominently in the founding of the British Labour Party in 1900. 1913: Federal reserve System created Following a financial panic in 1907, calls for banking and currency reform lead to the creation of the Federal Reserve Syste m, in which a central government bank lends to regional banks. The primary purpose of the system is to increase financial liquidity and to give the U.S. government better control over its currency. Click here for more on the structure and functions of the U.S. Federal Reserve. 1917: Russian revolution With World War I raging across Europe, Bolsheviks seize power in a coup in Russia, giving power to Communist groups called soviets (councils), and eventually leading to the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922. For the better part of the twentieth century, the Communist Soviet Union would stand as capitalisms main rival and a competing power base of economic ideology. Two years after the Russian Revolution, in 1919, the publication of the Fascist manifesto sets the stage for pockets of fascism to emerge in Europe. Fascism and communism duel for supremacy in Germanys Weimar Republic until National Socialism, or Nazism, comes to dominate with the rise of Adolf Hitler. 1922: State Corporatization The idea of corporatism, in which a ruling party mediates between civic groups that represent various economic or social interests, rises to prominence in the early 1920s with Benito Mussolinis ascendance as Italys prime minister. In the corporate economic model, alliances representing different industries and worker groups are part of the ruling mechanism of the state. Corporatist models are implemented in Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan, and other countries in the run-up to World War IIoften accompanied by a brand of authoritarian nationalism known as fascism. The model largely disappears following World War II, but authoritarian economies like China and Russia adopt elements of state corporatism in their post-Cold War models. 1935: Keynes Economic rethink Following the stock market crash of 1929, more than half a decade of economic depression, and a series of massive government interventions in the economy including new regulatory strictures implement ed by President Franklin Roosevelt, a reassessment of markets takes root. The British economist John Maynard Keynes comes to represent the new thinking, suggesting several changes to the status quo of economic thought. Among other points, Keynes argues that capitalism wont self-correct and will require ongoing government oversight. 1944: Brettenwoods Following two years of negotiations and half a decade of war, world leaders meet in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, and draft the first framework intended to govern monetary relations among the worlds largest economies. The conference results in a system of fixed exchange rates, the creation of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and plans for a third organization, aimed at governing world trade, that is eventually founded in 1947 as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. 1949: Chinese revolution With the Chinese civil war that began in 1946 nearing its end, the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong, seizes power in 1949. It implements a Communist government that alongside the Soviet Union will oppose U.S. capitalist ideology throughout much of the twentieth century. Within a decade, Mao breaks with Moscow, however, in part over doctrinal disputes relating to industrialization and collectivization of agriculture. 1956: Peak Oil A geophysicist named M. King Hubbert theorizes that the rate of oil production in any given geographical area tends to follow a bell-shaped curve. Hubbert correctly predicts that oil production in the United States will peak between 1965 and 1970, lending credence to theorists who use a similar model to predict the date at which oil production will peak on a global scalea theory which becomes known as peak oil. New fears over global oil production coincide with the formation in 1960 of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, as a cartel bringing together many of the worlds leading oil producers. 1960: Competing economic t heories Following a period during which Keynesian economic theory reigned supreme, in part due to the work of the renowned economist Paul Samuelson, healthy economic times in the United States during the 1960s coincide with the rise of Milton Friedman, an economist who argues strongly in support of laissez-faire, libertarian economic principles that stand in contrast to the theories of John Maynard Keynes. Friedman also spreads the theory of monetarism, a school of economic thought in which the supply of money in an economy is used as the primary tool to affect the countryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s rate of inflation. 1978: Socialism with Chinese characteristics Beginning in 1978, pragmatists within Chinas Communist party, led by Deng Xiaoping, spearhead a series of economic reforms aimed at generating economic surplus and modernizing the Chinese economy. These reforms are generally credited with lifting millions of Chinese out of poverty during the final decades of the twentieth c entury. Analysts in the West commonly characterize these reforms as part of a gradual Chinese shift toward a capitalist system, but Beijing rebuffs such claims, saying Chinese economic liberalization does not undermine the Marxist principles followed by the countrys government or the Chinese Communist Party itself. 1979: Stagflation and Deindustrialization Paul Volcker takes the helm at the U.S. Federal Reserve during a period of stagflationa combination of economic stagnation and inflation. Volcker implements the monetarism espoused by economist Milton Friedman as a counter inflation strategy, provoking a deep recession that accelerates the shift of the U.S. economy from manufacturing to services and lays the foundation for steady growth during the 1980s. 1981: Reganomics and the laffer curve Ronald Reagan assumes the U.S. presidency in 1981, preaching four pillars of economic policy that come to be called Reaganomics: reducing government spending; reducing marginal tax es on labor and income; reducing government regulation of the economy; and using monetary policy to keep inflation rates low. This theory of economics is bolstered by the Laffer curve, a concept popularized by the economist Arthur Laffer that argues increases in taxation rates do not necessarily increase overall tax revenue. 1991: Post Cold War globalization The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War function as enabling mechanisms, spurring a period of globalization and economic liberalization across many countries. This shift is exemplified in 1995 by the establishment of the World Trade Organization, an organization tasked with supervising and standardizing oversight of international trade and liberalizing the global trade agenda. The shift toward globalization comes with discontents, however. The vulnerabilities engendered by a more liberalized international financial network become clear during the second half of the 1990s, as financial crises break out in several emerging economies, including Mexico, several East Asian countries, Russia, and Brazil. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) makes emergency loans to many of these countries, but imposes political restrictions as a condition for the loans. The shock of these crises and irritation over the IMFs loan conditions changes the way affected countries think about reserve capital. Particularly in East Asia, countries build up large reserves of foreign currencies in an effort to stave off future crises and the need for future IMF loansa trend which exacerbates trade imbalances throughout the early 2000s. 1992 WTO The establishment of the European Union signals a period in which several groups of countries seek to integrate their economies with those of their neighbors through regional economic blocs. The European Union expands throughout the 1990s and 2000s. In 1993, the United States, Canada, and Mexico sign the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, binding their e conomies much more comprehensively. Other blocs, including Mercosur in Latin America and ASEAN in Southeast Asia, seek to expand their influence over the course of the decade. The culmination of this trend is the establishment of the euro, a common currency adopted by a group of EU member states in 2002. 2000-2006 Deregulation as poilcy By the latter part of the 1990s, with the U.S. economy booming, dissenting opinion about the free markets ability to self-correct has faded. U.S. President George W. Bush presses an agenda, initiated by the Clinton administration, that encourages home ownership as a major economic priority. Interest rate cuts at the U.S. Federal Reserve, made in the wake of the dotcom bubble, encourage easy credit in the United States, eventually fueling a credit bubble. Meanwhile, in 2004 the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lifts a regulation limiting the extent to which major investment banks can leverage their investments. Increased borrowing, taken alongside U.S. spending on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, work together to balloon the U.S. budget deficit. Eventually, a bubble in the U.S. housing market bursts, bringing major problems for U.S. subprime lending outfits, sparking the 2007-08 financial crisis and leading to a broader rethink of when and how markets should be regulated.

The Effect Of Fast Food On Food Consumption - 957 Words

Influence of Fast Food Fast food consumption has increased markedly in past 20 years, especially for urban city people in developed countries (XXXXXX). A hypothesis was addressed that consumption of fast food is related to the prevalence of asthma and allergy. Wickens et al (2005) investigate varies fast food consumption and their correlations with asthma and other allergic symptoms. Data on fast-food consumption and food allergic symptoms in 1321 New Zealand school children were analysed statistically. Results found that consumption of hamburgers, takeaways and fizzy drinks show association with asthma symptoms and reactions after exercise, while consumption of juice, meat, fish, fresh vegetables and fruits did not. Having hamburgers, takeaways or fizzy drinks more than once a week would significantly increase the wheeze and asthma reaction possibilities. Mechanisms behind were not suggested by the research. The complex components in meat pattie in hamburger may provide a rich source of potential allergen s (XXXXXX). Results in other studies also gave similar conclusion that fast food show correlation with food allergy at least to some certain level. For the fact that the concept for fast food is too broad, it is difficult to blame the results on some specific components, hence more detailed studies on this factor is still needed. Influence of Food Processing More processed foods are available commercially nowadays (XXXXX). For processing purpose, fresh food materialsShow MoreRelatedAre We Taking It Too Far by Blaming Fast Food Restaurant for Obesity?1285 Words   |  6 PagesAre we taking it too far by blaming fast food restaurant for obesity? 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